A Sweater for Miss Lily (FO)

Dear Stuntmother,

I know you've seen this already, but I thought I should document another FO here. My 2 1/2 year old niece (and goddaughter) Lily will be the recipient of the latest knitwear. This is another of Alice and/or Jade Starmore's designs from The Children's Collection, called Mendocino. I had it in the back of my mind for a while, but then Jannette had a wonderful sale on Jaeger Shetland Aran ($5/ball, free shipping; great yardage). The book has multiple photos (which I won't reproduce here, for obvious reasons) of toddlers to tweens wearing this sweater as a cardigan or as outerwear, depending on the amount of ease. It should fit her for a long, long time. The shade of blue will be just perfect with her clear, blue irides (scroll down--the cute blonde).

Project Notes:

Pattern: Mendocino, by Alice/Jade Starmore, from The Children's Collection

Yarn: Jaeger Shetland Aran, 80% wool/ 20% alpaca. Very soft and drapey, but round in profile for excellent stitch definition. Way on sale, as above. There are about 180 yards in each 100g ball!

Needles: Addi Turbo US #7, my usual choice for mindless stockinette.

Notes:
--Clever use of the natural pulling-in of the cables to smock the bodice and provide shaping. It's a saddle shoulder, but otherwise no armscye shaping at all. The roundness and aran gauge of this yarn made seaming a breeze (kind of fun to mattress stitch this kind of sweater).


--I wasn't so sure about the buttons (click for bigger). I like their look, but the serrated edge of the daisy petals might eventually wear away at the buttonholes. I reinforced them heavily with 2 plies of the same yarn, but I hope they're okay.

--Wow--when you've gotten accustomed to socks, lace shawls and (now) shetland fair isle, the stockinette on larger needles almost knits itself!

--The pattern gave the option of seed stitch or moss stitch (I chose moss) for the button bands and collar. As always, if you do exactly what Alice says, finishing will be precise and the results perfect.

Overall, I'm pleased with it, and I'd love to knit with this yarn in the future. Luckily, Jannette always seems to have some of it at excellent prices.

Love, Eyeknit


P.S. Thanks for enlisting Helena's help as a model--I don't think my photos are as good as yours, but that's due to your new, super-duper camera! She's lovely, and this is how it should fit Lily in about 1 1/2 years!